by Kathi Daley
“If Jim didn’t kill Holly, who do you think did?” Tj asked, more to get her mind off their predicament than because she really cared at that moment.
“I don’t know. Holly made a lot of enemies. I don’t think Jim and I were the only two she was blackmailing.”
“What did she want from you?”
Mackenzie actually blushed. “She wanted me to fix the election for homecoming queen.”
“I knew it.”
“I didn’t want to, and I was sorry that it affected you, but I really didn’t want anyone to find out about Jim and me.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not mad. At least not at you.”
“What’s that?” Mackenzie whispered.
Tj squinted in an effort to locate the source of the sound they’d both heard. There was something coming toward them from the other side of the dense brush. Tj held her breath as she realized it was the mama cat and she was looking right at them.
“What should we do?” Mackenzie whispered.
“Just stay calm. Animals can sense fear.”
“Calm? Are you kidding?”
“Hi, kitty. Where are your babies?” Tj said in a soothing voice.
The cat just looked at her.
“It might be a good thing we’re tied to this tree,” Tj said.
“Why?”
“If you weren’t tied to the tree what would you do?”
“Run.”
“Running is the worst thing you can do. The cougar will identify you as prey. Just stay calm and maintain eye contact with the cat. Oh, and try to look big. Or maybe that’s just for bears. Maybe you’re supposed to look dead for cougars.”
“We’re so gonna die.”
Tj tried to figure out what she should do. The reality was, there wasn’t a lot she could do. She tried to remember which behavior went with which type of wild animal. So far, the cat seemed more curious than anything, which was good, she supposed. The mama cat began to walk around the tree in a circle, but she didn’t look particularly aggressive. Maybe she’d had a big lunch.
Tj had experienced run-ins with bears and coyotes in the past, but this was her first up close and personal experience with a cougar. She found she didn’t care for the experience.
“What’s that rumbling sound?” Mackenzie asked.
“It sounds like a car.”
“Maybe Jim had second thoughts and is coming back for us.”
Tj watched as Kyle’s SUV pulled into sight. He honked his horn and the cat took off running.
“What have you managed to get yourself into this time?” he asked as he climbed out of the vehicle.
“What does it look like? Hurry up and untie us before mama kitty decides she’s hungry after all. Oh, by the way, Kyle, this is Mackenzie; Mackenzie, Kyle.”
“We met in the bar last night,” Mackenzie reminded her.
“Oh, that’s right. How did you find us anyway?”
“I slipped a tracking device into your pocket before I took you home to get your car.” Kyle reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small chip. “See.”
Tj let out a long sigh. “Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing? It might have spared me some anxiety.”
“Because you’re tricky. You don’t always do what’s best for you. I didn’t want to give you the opportunity to argue, so I didn’t mention what I was doing.”
Mackenzie laughed. “You guys sound like an old married couple.”
Kyle freed Tj and Mackenzie, then offered to drive them both back to the resort.
“Can I use your phone to call Roy?” Tj asked him.
“Roy knows what’s going on. I called him when I saw you had headed in this direction. He’s already gone after Jim.”
Tj leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. God, she was tired. “Now all we have to do is figure out who killed Holly and we’ll have this whole mystery package wrapped up.”
“I think I may know that as well,” Kyle said.
Tj opened her eyes.
“Who?” Mackenzie asked from the backseat.
“I managed to clean up the image of the shadow we saw in the trees enough to identify it as Nathan Fullerton.”
“Nathan? Why would Nathan kill Holly?” Mackenzie asked.
“Have you read his work?”
“Sure,” both Tj and Mackenzie answered.
“Do you remember his first book?” Kyle asked.
“Obsession,” Mackenzie answered. “It was the book that made him a star.”
“Do you remember the plot of the book?”
Tj’s eyes widened. “Oh my God. He was writing about Holly.”
“That’s my theory.”
In the book there was a teenage girl obsessed with a teenage boy who had no interest whatsoever in her. The girl tried everything she could think of to get the boy’s attention, but no matter what he remained uninterested. The girl was used to getting her way, and she’d discovered along the way that the best way to get people to do what you wanted was to blackmail them, so she came up with a scheme to blackmail the boy of her dreams into loving her. But in the end he killed her.
“Nathan killed Holly because she was blackmailing him,” Tj realized. “I had no idea that Holly was obsessed with Nathan.”
“Chances are no one did which is why the connection to Nathan’s book was never associated with Holly’s murder,” Mackenzie agreed.
“I think it also explains why he’s kept a low profile. He came to Serenity early, so he was already here when Samantha Colton showed up. Everyone knew he was here and it would have looked odd if he left, so instead of leaving, he simply laid low in an attempt to avoid her. Once he found out she was dead, he realized it was safe to come out of hiding and attend the game. My guess is, had she not died, he would have made an excuse to go home without ever having made an appearance.”
“This whole thing is so surreal,” Mackenzie said. “I can’t believe Nathan would do such a thing, but I do remember him mentioning he had a stalker. At the time he said it in a joking sort of way, so I thought he was kidding.”
“I wonder what Holly was blackmailing him with,” Tj said.
“In the book, the obsessed girl found out that the object of her affections had been physically and sexually abused as a child,” Kyle reminded them. “I don’t know how close Nathan stuck to the truth in his fiction, so it could have been something else entirely.”
“Wow,” Tj said.
“Wow is right,” Mackenzie agreed.
“Roy is going to bring Nathan in for questioning. Let’s not forget that all we have at this point is a photo and a theory,” Kyle said.
“I read Obsession a long time ago, but the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the book is going to end up serving as a sort of confession,” Tj mused. “It seems like every detail about the crime scene is exactly the same as the location where they found Holly’s body. I can’t believe I never put two and two together.”
“I wonder why he wrote it all down and then had it published?” Mackenzie asked.
“Maybe he needed to confess but didn’t want to go to prison. Writing a fictional account of the events was his way of doing that,” Kyle said.
“I’m going to call Roy to ask him to come over once he tracks Jim down and talks to Nathan,” Tj decided. “I need to find out exactly how this story ends.”
“I thought you were going to the dance,” Kyle reminded her as he turned onto the resort road.
“Honestly,” Tj answered, “I’m way too exhausted. I bet Hunter will be tired as well after surgery. I guess I should ask him, but I think we’ll skip it.”
“That close encounter with the big cat took a lot out of me. I think I’ll just head home,” Mackenzie added.
“Don’t go home early. Stay and have dinner with us,�
� Tj said. “I’ll order food from the Grill and we can relax on the deck of the cabin Hunter and I are staying in.”
“I don’t want to be a third wheel.”
“You won’t be a third wheel. Kyle is going to have dinner with us as well. Aren’t you, Kyle?”
Kyle glanced at Mackenzie in the rearview mirror. “If you want to stay, I’d be happy to round things out.”
Mackenzie smiled back at Kyle. “Okay. If you’re sure.”
Kyle grinned. “I’m sure.”
Chapter 17
Halloween
“Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat,” Gracie said when Jenna answered the door.
“Don’t you look beautiful!”
“I’m Cinderella.” Gracie grinned. “Are Kristi and Kari ready?”
“They are. And we’re all very excited about the Halloween sleepover.”
Tj had invited Jenna and her girls to spend the night. Dennis had been called in to work when two firefighters from his department came down with food poisoning, and Hunter had decided to take Jake and his friend to San Francisco for a couple of days because Tj was going to be tied up. Ben went with Jake and Hunter to the city, and Mike was spending the evening with Rosalie.
“Kristi and I will be joining you after our party,” Ashley announced in a very adult tone of voice. “There are going to be boys there.”
“Kristi is very excited about the party and Kari is equally excited to go trick-or-treating with Gracie. This is going to be the best Halloween ever.” Jenna looked at Tj. “Is Kyle joining us?”
“Kyle is on a date. He and Mackenzie hit it off, so he’s taking her to the Halloween Ball at Timberlake House.”
“Awesome. It’ll be just the girls. This is going to be so much fun,” Jenna said.
“I’m in need of some girl time,” Tj admitted. “I have snacks and soda for the kids to pig out on during the movie marathon Ashley has all lined up in the DVD player, as well as wine and cheese for the adults.”
“Sounds perfect. Let me get my coat and we’ll paint the town black and orange.”
The four girls were knocked out on the floor in the den by eleven o’clock that night. Curled up on the sofa by the fire, Tj and Jenna decided to take advantage of the quiet before going to bed.
“It looks like you have a permanent addition to the family,” Jenna commented as Pumpkin wandered into the living room and plopped down next to Echo at Tj’s feet.
“It looks like. I wasn’t sure another pet was the best idea, but Gracie loves Pumpkin and it seems obvious the feeling is mutual. She’s really a well-behaved little pup.”
“Plus she’s adorable,” Jenna added.
“There is that as well.” Tj yawned. “I can’t believe it’s only been five days since we found her. What a week. It seems more like a month has gone by.”
“It has been a long week,” Jenna agreed. “I still can’t believe Nathan killed Holly.”
“What I can’t believe is that he up and confessed when Roy brought him in for questioning. All we had was a theory. It’s doubtful Roy had enough to press charges.”
“I think Nathan wanted to be held accountable for what he did,” Jenna said. “That’s most likely why he wrote out a confession and published it in a book. I bet he never imagined it would take ten years for someone to figure it out.”
“And we most likely never would have if Samantha Colton hadn’t decided to avenge her sister’s death and find her killer,” Tj added.
Tj looked at the fire as it snapped, crackled, and popped. The wood her dad had brought in was freshly chopped and still contained a lot of sap.
“I actually feel bad about the way things ended up,” Jenna said. “I really like Nathan, and I’m not certain the whole thing was his fault. If the book parallels reality at all, Holly threatened to reveal some very personal and painful information about him. I think the poor guy felt trapped and took the only way he saw out.”
“What’s really funny about the whole thing is that if Dalton hadn’t been as obsessed with Holly as she was with Nathan, he wouldn’t have been running around taking photos of her. And without those photos we would never have seen the image of Nathan watching Holly.”
Jenna took a sip of her wine. “Did Jim ever confess to killing Samantha Colton?”
“No, but they can hold him on the kidnapping and attempted murder charges while they look for evidence.”
Cuervo jumped onto the sofa and made himself comfortable in Tj’s lap. Of all the members of the Jensen family, he was the least thrilled with the addition of Pumpkin.
“I’m sorry our romantic weekend with our guys got waylaid, but this is nice,” Jenna commented as she nibbled on a piece of cheese. “It’s been a while since you and I had girl time.”
“It really has. We should make a point of doing this more often. It doesn’t seem that long ago when it was us having the sleepovers.”
Jenna leaned over and picked up a book from the coffee table. “Is this our senior yearbook?”
“Yeah. Ashley found it when we were looking for the Halloween decorations. She wanted to look at it, so I brought it down.”
Jenna opened the cover and thumbed through. “Oh my. Look at my hair. What was I thinking?”
Tj laughed at the photo. “I have to admit that wasn’t your best look.”
“I look ridiculous, but you look exactly the same.”
“You can’t do much with my crazy hair, so I don’t even try. It’s been the same since I was a kid and will probably be the same when I’m an old woman.”
“Except instead of curly auburn hair you’ll have curly white hair.”
“True.”
“I love this one of Dennis and me at our homecoming,” Jenna said. “We look so happy. Who knew what was about to happen, or how it would affect our homecoming ten years later?”
Jenna continued to look through the photos from that long-ago night. Tj mostly had fond memories of her time in high school, but the night Holly died was a sadness that had stayed with her through the years.
“I don’t see you and Hunter,” Jenna commented.
“We were probably in the hall necking.” Tj laughed.
Jenna frowned. She passed the book to Tj. “Look at this.”
The photo was of Holly and her date, but she was clearly staring at Nathan, who was with his date off to the side, and Dalton was in the background, staring at her.
“I’ve looked at this photo a million times and never noticed that,” Tj admitted. “I guess you have to know what to look for in order to see it.” Tj passed the book back and Jenna continued to thumb through it.
“I forgot you and Hunter were voted most likely to get married before our first reunion,” Jenna commented.
“I guess that didn’t work out as planned.”
“Do you ever wonder how your life might be different if you had married Hunter right out of high school?” Jenna asked.
“I’ve thought about it from time to time,” Tj said, “but I don’t spend a lot of time agonizing over it. Part of me wishes we didn’t have the years apart and the reason for them lingering between us, but I’m happy with my life. Hunter’s mom was so controlling and I was so young. If we’d married right out of high school, she would have walked all over me. I think things turned out the way they were supposed to.”
Jenna smiled. “I’m glad you’ve made peace with the past, and I’m glad you and Hunter are back together. He’s a good guy.”
“Yeah. He is.” Yet Tj couldn’t quite shake a slight feeling of melancholy.
“Something wrong?” Jenna asked.
“No not wrong. It’s just that.” Tj looked at Jenna. “It’s nothing.”
“Seems like something.”
“It’s just that,” Tj paused. “I’ve been thinking about my relationship wi
th Hunter ever since Jake convinced me to take a chance and make more of a commitment to our future.”
“Yeah. I know that you were hesitant after what happened the last time you made a commitment to Hunter, but it seems like you are both in a really good place now.”
“We are. He’s been so good to me and the girls really love him, which is important to me. He really fits into my family and I know Jake will be over the moon happy if we marry and give him great grandchildren.”
“What is it that you are trying very hard not to say?” Jenna asked.
“Sometimes I wonder if that is enough. I wonder if the fact that the girls love Hunter and our marrying would make Jake happy, is reason enough to marry.”
“Do you love Hunter?”
“Of course. I have always loved Hunter. Even when he dumped me. It’s just that…” Tj looked off into the distance. “Forget it. I’ve had too much wine tonight. It’s made me all maudlin.”
“Is there someone else?”
“Of course not.”
“Kyle?”
“Of course not. Kyle is like a brother to me. I love him, but not in that way, and I’m certain he feels the same way about me.”
Jenna didn’t say anything, but she didn’t look convinced.
“Hand me that bowl of candy.” Tj decided it was well past time to change the subject. Jenna handed it to her and she picked out a candy bar. “I know I’ve eaten a million of these things already, but Halloween is the only night you can eat candy and the calories don’t count.”
Jenna glanced at the clock. “We still have a few more minutes before the stroke of midnight, when we turn into mere mortals unable to digest ten pounds of candy in a single sitting.”
“Are there any more Milky Ways?”
“No I think the girls ate all the Milky Ways,” Jenna answered. “Do you remember that Halloween slumber party when we were in the seventh grade?” Jenna asked. “I was sick for a week from all the candy I ate.”
